Vietnamese Immigration to Angel Island

First Immigrant to Angel Island

1945

One of the first Vietnamese immigrants to the U.S. was Ho Chi Minh. He was the former esteemed president of North Vietnam and came to the U.S. to help after World War 2.

First Wave of Immigration Starts

1970

The first major wave of immigration from Vietnam started in 1970.

Immigration Wave Hits 1 million people

1972

In 1972 over 1 million people had willingly immigrated from Vietnam.

The U.S. Withdraw From War

1973

The U.S. pull their armies from the shores of Vietnam after nearly two decades of fighting

U.S. Requests Mandatory Evacuation

1974

The U.S. held a mandatory evacuation for South Vietnam in 1974 in order to protect citizens from the North's might.

Fall of Saigon

1975

The South began to evacuate people in 1974 but by the time the North had invaded, the South had only gotten 125000 of their people out which caused for many civilian casualties.

2 million immigrants in America

1980

In 1980 the U.S. had brought 2 million Vietnamese immigrants into the country with only 450000 of them being forced to leave.

Vietnamese Immigration Slows Down

1989

Immigration from Vietnam begins to resume its slow usual pace and creeps to only about 10000 a month instead of its original 40000 a month.

War in Vietnam Ends

1992

The Vietnam War comes to a halt as the North releases its oppression of South Vietnam.

End of Wave 1 for Vietnamese Immigration

1995

Wave 1 for Vietnamese immigration ends with almost 3 million immigrants coming to the U.S. in this period of 25 years.